Web Comics

Over the last decade or so, there has been a slow move to the internet and online comics. The vast variety of writing styles, artwork and subject matter is truly astounding. Personally, I will never relinquish my love for having the story and art in my hands (I still buy around ten comics a month), and being able to take them with me anywhere. That being said, there is a lot of excellent and varied work for all tastes being done online. Below, I have listed a variety of the ones I am currently enjoying for anyone who might like an occasional brainful of amazing illustrated serial entertainment, updated on various semi-regular schedules. The title links should bring you to the first installment of each series.

• If you've ever played a role playing game like Dungeons & Dragons, read sci-fi and/or fantasy novels, or seen movies in either genre, "Order of the Stick" might be your thing. Don't let the seemingly simple illustration style fool you. The story is hilarious, the characters are engaging, and there are tons of in-jokes and references to outside stuff, not limited to the two genres. I've been reading this series the longest to date (several years), and wish it was updated more frequently.
• Skottie Young is a comic book artist of no little talent, having illustrated various X-Men titles for Marvel Comics, as well as the phenomenal "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" graphic novel (which I bought for my 10-year-old niece Ryan, who absolutely loved it). He just began a short series entitled "The Adventures of Bernard the World Destroyer". It's pretty darn funny, turning a few of sci-fi's 'first contact' cliches on their collective ears. He plans to update it daily for at least one month, and longer as whimsy dictates.
• Karl Kerschl, illustrator of The Flash, Teen Titans, and other series from DC Comics has been putting out a weekly snippet of his charming "The Abominable Charles Christopher", a tale of a wandering yeti, and his sometimes humorous, sometimes serious encounters in the forest and beyond. The strip began in June of 2007, and hasn't missed a Wednesday installment since!
• I just today discovered Ramon Perez's twice-weekly (Tuesdays & Thursdays) series "Kukuburi". I've read the first 29 installments (up to late October of '07), and so far it is a trippy tale of a girl and her talking chameleon who wander into a Seussian dimension of wierdness, surrealism and danger. The colors pop, (many of the strips are wall-print worthy), the creatures are imaginative, and each day's vignette makes me want to click "next"!
• And last but not least, another funny strip I discovered today: "Girls With Slingshots", a "slice of life", relationshippy 5-times-weekly comic that has been running since 2004, about two girls, Jamie and Hazel, and their friends in the city (I haven't figured out which city yet, but that may not matter). It is definitely not for kids, and my initial impression is that it reads like a Showtime/HBO version (read: Rated R) of "How I Met Your Mother" or "Friends" (please forgive me longtime readers of "GWS", if this offends your sensibilities - haha!). So far, very funny!
  

Go forth, read on, and please let me (and the creators!) know how you feel about their creations! Some of them even have collected print editions of their work available for purchase (no one told me to say that :Þ) for those of you who might prefer the heft and scent of the printed work.